Preamble : this is not a rant against families traveling together with young children !
I have traveled through BCN twice in a couple of days and what a pain, even as a FB Plat/Ulti...And this is true in many airports.
For security in BCN, the fast lane corridor has 2 lanes : only one for classical fast lane pax (J class, Eligible guests of each airlines) and the other one is reserved for families with very young children. Both lines move very slowly and the number of families queuing was just incredible, with half of the babies crying loudly in this corridor. It took me both times about 20 min to go through, having the feeling to have been through hell
Then you think, OK let's have a more peaceful environment in the lounge to be able to work before taking my flight. But no, que nenni ! During both visits, the lounge was full of those families with very young children and babies yelling and shouting, running around the lounge (I would say that about a quarter to third of the lounge occupancy was children). On top of that, the lounge was very dirty. Add to this today a couple with their dogs which was barking and other pax speaking loudly in their phone, I left the lounge 30 min before my boarding time as I could not stand anymore this level of noise and disorganization. It was absolutely impossible to concentrate on work or rest.
Are we losing the point of lounges here ? Those places are labeled and called "VIP / business lounge", so this is primarily a place where people come to work and rest, but not a playground for children where one can play, drink and eat for free.
I know this is a difficult and sensitive subject with no easy answer (should infants/children be allowed in premium classes ?) and very often the problems are due to the parents who do not educate their children properly. And of course, the problem is much more prominent during that period of the year (summer holidays), but I was so exasperated tonight after those experiences in BCN that I decided to start this thread on FT
I believe some special area should be reserved in the lounges for families with young children, in order to preserve a relative quietness in the main area of the lounge.
Any thoughts or opinions guys ?
